Lisa Kudrow has revealed why she was turned down for the role of Rachel on Friends.
Kudrow, 63, rose to prominence as Phoebe Buffay on the 90s’ sitcom. The ensemble cast featured Courtney Cox, 62, as Monica and Jennifer Aniston, 57, as Rachel.
But Kudrow wanted to play Rachel, whom she described as a “Jewish American Princess.” Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter, the Emmy Award-winning actress said, “Idiot that I am, I went, ‘Oh, but you know what? I got to say, Rachel is Jewish. And boy, I love doing a Jewish American Princess. I think I could make that really funny.’”
Kudrow explained that she didn’t realize Rachel would be the show’s romantic lead, playing counterpart to Ross, depicted by David Schwimmer.
“Not even clocking that, ‘Oh no, this is the romantic lead to Ross.’ Right? I told my agents, ‘I can do Jewish American Princess and make that really funny.’ And so they said, ‘Uh-huh. All right. Well, we’ll tell them.’”
The show’s creators later came back to her agents with their decision, sealing the show’s casting fate.
“They went, ‘No, no. It’s so hard for them to find Phoebe. They’re not messing with that,’” explained Kudrow. “So that was the sweet way of saying, ‘Yeah, you are not the romantic interest.’”
The star also opened up about how hard it was to get cast in popular sitcoms in the 90s.
“I didn’t look like women who were getting cast as series regulars on sitcoms,” she told the Hollywood Reporter.
“They still wanted a certain look—very pretty and appealing and all of that—and not that funny, right, except for Shelley Long… I was told, ‘It’s very hard because you’re not gorgeous, and they want gorgeous.’ And I’m like, ‘OK.’“
“I don’t think that’s ridiculous. I got it. Also, it’s not just how you look; it’s how you act, too. I’m not ‘cute.’ And God, I didn’t want to be cute.”
Earlier this year, Kudrow shared that people didn’t seem to care about her character on the show. “Nobody cared about me,” she told The Independent. “There were certain parts of [my talent agency] that just referred to me as ‘the sixth Friend.’”
“There was no vision for me, and no expectations about the kind of career I could have. There was just, like, ‘boy is she lucky she got on that show,’” she said candidly.
Kudrow’s performance as Phoebe—the group’s most free-spirited, eccentric character—was highly lauded, with the actress winning an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 1998.
